I find it hard to believe every resturant closed at 10. If you go to the Old Market almost all of those places are open till at least midnight.

hey Switz, you're not playing nice!

I am sorry you find it hard to believe every place was closed at 10pm but every place we drove to and every place we called were either closed or in the process of closing and we couldn't get in.

I used to work in downtown, and I know that there is an Old Chicago AND a Famous Dave's right next to each other that is open until 11 p.m. weeknights, and if I'm not mistaken the Spaghetti Works in the Old Market is open until 11 as well. All three are about 4-5 blocks south of the Qwest Center.

www.oldmarket.com

Btw, the Old Chicago is open till 12:30 AM. I really find it hard to believe EVERY one of those was closing at 10PM.

That is good info for her I'm sure she can use that next year. Info like that can make everyone happier with the quest. Thanks guys

dswitz; I'm wondering what you are trying to say in your last post. Are you being sarcastic and want to make us rural people feel oldfasion or hillbilly like? Well if so you succeeded for me. This is a good example of how we get treated when in Omaha somtimes. I for one take pride in being friendly. Where I come from we like to sit on the front porch and wave or talk to the people going by. We know our niehbors because we take the time to meet and greet each other, we acually care about each other, we don't worry as much of someone nearby stealing or harming us because we are friends not stangers. Please excuse us for invading your space occationally, and we will try to let our pocket knives and sticks at home.

The Omaha area and the qwest certainly have some issues, and I think we need to address them, thats the only way to improve, but we need to suport the kids, coaches, parents, and everyone that works so hard at making this sport what it is. Many people put a lot of effort in helping turn young boys into great men, and I thank you all very much. Wrestling just so happens to be my favorite form of entertainment, but lets not loose sight of what is most important, THE KIDS.

quote:

Originally posted by cowcatcher:
but lets not loose sight of what is most important, THE KIDS.

I think you just hit the nail on the head there, cowcatcher...and once those who seem to go out of their way to find something "wrong" with Qwest and Omaha grasp that the state tournament is the KIDS' tournament and not THEIRS', they might actually enjoy things a little more.

quote:

Originally posted by cowcatcher:
dswitz; I'm wondering what you are trying to say in your last post. Are you being sarcastic and want to make us rural people feel oldfasion or hillbilly like? Well if so you succeeded for me. This is a good example of how we get treated when in Omaha somtimes.

Thank you cowcatcher for responding. I was tempted however decided against it wanting to believe that the person was trying to be funny. (Although truthfully I still feel it was meant to be a sarcastic statement.) It is sad that some people in parts of Nebraska still have that attitude about the rural parts of the state. Like I said I decided to pretend to be nieve and believe the best and just think the person was trying to be funny- however the sentiments that you said were some of the first things in my mind.

Diehard...jjmom just said every one of the places SHE went to were closed or in the process of closing, not ALL the restaurants in Omaha...I think that's why you have a hard time believing and she insists that it's true. You've got to realize that those from outside of Omaha aren't aware of all the hidden gems for eating spots downtown. It'll take some time for that to come.

Cowcatcher...wow!...well said!...you sounded like a well-educated city slicker there! Thanks for respresenting us back-woods, horse and buggy riding, no indoor plumbing, electricity, & runnin' water havin' out-state Nebraskuns!

the only time some of us come to Omaha is for the state tournament and things like that so we aren't familiar with all the areas in town. we had two car loads of people looking for a place to eat and everywhere we went was closing or closed until we got to Council Bluffs.
alot of us are used to more laid back and friendly ways. as someone already mentioned we do sit on our porches and wave to people going by and most of us go out of our way to make people feel welcomed. I guess that is just one difference we will have to get used to in order to watch our teams at the tournament.

Having grown up in the small town, that is one aspect that I do miss living in big, bad, cold-hearted Omaha.

And for those who haven't figured it out yet, here is the difference between a small-town greeting and a big-city greeting:

Small-town greeting: Hi there. How are ya' doin'? How can I help ya'?

Big-city greeting: What the (bleep) are you lookin' at???

blah, blah, blah..... maybe we could have it at the high school gym in pender, i know all the business are open late there! i've been to many a small town where the people are plenty rude to "outsiders". i was able to eat and drink across the street at the mfactory then enjoy myself at Sareers night club.....THANKS OMAHA!!!!
my seats @ the Quest did stink though once again.

letsgo: do you kiss your mom with that mouth?

letsgo...how can you say ALL of them are open late? Have you been to ALL of them? jjmom just said the ones SHE went to were either closed or getting ready to close. There hasn't been one connection between the ones she was talking about and yours or anyone else's that doesn't believe her. "I find it hard to believe"(sound familiar?) you've been to them ALL, or know ALL of there schedules.

As far as rudeness and friendliness goes...there's examples of both in the country and the city. The biggest difference to me is the speed of life...everything seems to be so rushed in the city...and much slower outside the metropolitan areas. People from the country can get overwhelmed by the increased traffic, population, choices, crampedness etc...which all equate into a much faster-paced existance. When city people go to the rural areas, it's like the world comes to a standstill...things just seems to move too slow for them and become bored with life because there just doesn't seem to be enough going on...not enough choices...places to eat, more than one movie theatre to chose from, more than 2 or 3 hole in the wall bars to choose from...etc....Now I'm not saying that's the case with everyone by any means, but I think it comes close to the most part. I've lived in cities as big as Denver, Minneapolis/St. Paul(2-3 million people)...and as small as Inman, NE(less than 150 people). Probably the best middle ground for us was when we lived in Alda(near Grand Island)...Alda is a very small town, but only 10 minutes away from G.I., 30 minutes from Hastings, and 45 from Kearney...so everything we could possibly want to do was 45 min. or less away. It's not all about what's good and bad or right or wrong....it's about choices....and what's more comfortable to you. We choose to live in more of a quiet country-type setting and have to drive 45 minutes to a bigger city with more choices to eat, shop, and find entertainment, rather than live in the hustle and bustle of the city and have to drive 45 minutes to find peace and quiet. We just need to find that "middle ground" where the city can meet the country...becuase we need to cooperate with each other to exist in perfect harmony(wasn't that part of an old Coke commercial?).

quote:

Originally posted by pin time:
letsgo: do you kiss your mom with that mouth?

PT, no but i do kiss your mom with it

Ya really never know with lawyer jarg, but what is on the lips generally can be found in the heart.

If you can get that death penalty by firing squad thing reinstated, that would save lots of public funds that could be earmarked to benefit wrestling...in Lincoln.

Not that this restaurant closing/ hotel prices / Omaha sucks debate is getting old, but........ How about I get back to the attendance question with a theory. I wonder if a portion of the missing attendance is UNL students that used to go watch friends/teamates from their school.

quote:

Originally posted by Radio Man:
Probably the best middle ground for us was when we lived in Alda(near Grand Island)...Alda is a very small town, but only 10 minutes away from G.I., 30 minutes from Hastings, and 45 from Kearney...so everything we could possibly want to do was 45 min. or less away.

Wow...small (bleepin') world. I spent most of the first four years of my life in eastern Alda -- lived at the trailer park along Highway 30 just east of town.

Alda is one of those "blinknmiz" towns -- blink and you miss it.

People we still have not found out any solutions. Omaha people I guarantee you that the NSAA will be looking at the attendance and it is up to you to come up with some solutions. I have seen a lot of people post about it is for the kids, I agree 100%. I have had wrestlers wrestle at Devaney and the Qwest and I guarantee you they said Devaney was a lot better for the atmosphere. There is nothing like wrestling in a packed house, and I want a solution to make the Qwest a packed house that our wrestlers deserve. Devaney had the energy and I have seen the Qwest with energy during other events so what is the solution.
I know I went on my rant about hotels and eating establishments and I still won't back down from that, but that has nothing to do with the NSAA or the Qwest that has to do with the Omaha Chamber of Commerce getting off there duff and putting together a flyer for out of town fans. I have seen some posters mocked because they didn't pick the right eating establishments to eat before closing time, well let me tell you I don't make it a habit to drive around a strange town with the hope of finding something open especially Omaha because if you take a wrong street you are screwed. How many of you Omaha people would come out to rural Nebraska on a Friday or Saturday night and just take a dirt road and hope you find something I can see a completely lost person just like a rural person traveling through Omaha taking a wrong street. I want a solution people because 10,000 people for the semi's is unacceptable and 9500 people for the finals is pathetic.